Newsletter

UPDATE: Suspensions from UCA-UALR brawl

UPDATE: After a further review by the NCAA, one of the suspensions of a University of Central Arkansas baseball player stemming from an incident during Tuesday night's game with Arkansas-Little Rock has been changed.

The Central Arkansas player suspended for eight games is sophomore outfielder Tyler Langley of Conway. The original report from the NCAA had named sophomore Matt Anderson as the player. Anderson's uniform number is #8 while Langley's is #9.

UCA head coach Allen Gum will have a statement concerning the incident during the pregame show for today's Southland Conference series opener against Southeastern Louisiana. The pregame show and game will air on KUCA 91.3 and at ucasports.com/showcase.

Three players and an assistant coach for the University of Central Arkansas and four players from Arkansas-Little Rock will serve NCAA-mandated suspensions for their part in a brawl in the 10th inning Wednesday in a baseball game at Bear Stadium.

After the umpires reversed an interference call, UCA coach Allen Gum and UALR coach Scott Norwood, who have a history of rivalry from their NCAA Division II days, confronted each other in front of the mound and went chest-to-chest and face-to-face in a heated argument. In the process, Norwood lost his balance once, then fell backwards on the turf after being jostled (apparently by UCA assistant Trent Kline during a fracas that cleared both dugouts.) Players exchanged punches and shoves as the brawl continued to the backstop and the barrier separating the field from the stands.

Video of the incident went viral nationwide on social media Thursday.

Gum and Norwood were both ejected.

The incident is still under review from officials from both the Southland Conference (UCA) and Sun Belt (UALR) and further disciplinary actions are possible.

Dr. Brad Teague, UCA athletic director, said, under NCAA guidelines, UCA players Nate Ferrell and Brandon Montalvo and Kline have incurred four-game suspensions and Matt Anderson an eight-game suspension for their part in the incident. Three UALR players also have been suspended for three games and another for eight games.

“The University of Central Arkansas Athletics Department regrets the incident that occurred during Wednesday night’s baseball game between the Bears and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Trojans at Bear Stadium. We realize there is no place in collegiate athletics for such an incident,” Teague said in a prepared statement Thursday.

He added, “Emotions sometimes run high in athletic contests, particularly in close, highly-contested games such as Wednesday night’s extra-inning game.

“And sometimes those emotions get out of hand, which was the case last night at Bear Stadium. UCA Athletics would like to apologize to our colleagues from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and the fans from both institutions that were in attendance. This is not the atmosphere that the University of Central Arkansas, the UCA Athletics Department and specifically the UCA baseball program desires for its home sporting events.

“UCA baseball, under the direction of head coach Allen Gum and his staff, has long been known as an entertaining and exciting family-friendly activity and we will ensure that continues to occur moving forward.”

In a brief news conference Thursday in Little Rock, Norwood publicly apologized for his part in the fracas, calling it “an embarrassment to the university and I deeply regret this happened and I take it very seriously. It’s something I can correct quickly.”